Legendary US pianist diagnosed with cancer ? RT

U.S. pianist Van Cliburn (Reuters/Alexander Natruskin)

?The Texan Who Conquered Russia? Van Cliburn, who won the first Tchaikovsky Piano Competition at the height of the Cold War, has been diagnosed with advanced bone cancer.

?The 78-year-old piano legend is currently ?resting comfortably at his Texas home under excellent care, his spirits are high,? his long-time friend and publicist Mary Lou Falcone is quoted as saying.

The piano legend has played for international heads of states and for every American President since Harry Truman.

He started taking piano lessons from his mother at the age of 3. His debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra took place when the prodigy was only 12-years-old. Cliburn studied at Juilliard, won the famed Leventritt Competition and performed with a number of orchestras across the country.

But a real breakthrough in his career came in 1958 when the 23-year-old pianist won one of the world?s most prestigious contests, the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Since then he has sold out concerts, broke record sales and even prompted an Elvis Presley fan club to change its name to his.

Tired of years of stardom, in the late 1970s Cliburn took a sabbatical, feeling emotionally drained from endless touring. He moved from New York to Fort Worth, and has been living there ever since.

He began playing publicly again in the late 1980s. Until recently he practiced daily and performed limited engagements.

Cliburn won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, and was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.

Source: http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/van-cliburn-cancer-tchaikovsky-718/

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